Meet Shelby! Shelby is 3-years old and is living in foster care in Albuquerque, New Mexico, courtesy of Enchantmutts. Here’s what their website has to say about this pretty girl:
Shelby was a South Valley girl born in March of 2011 to a stay-at-home mom blue heeler and a traveling aussie salesman who didn’t stay around to raise his offspring. As a result, Shelby did not have the advantages of a stable home and found herself alone with a pack of hungry dogs and one bowl among them. She learned to protect her food early on and fight to get anything to eat. By the time she came to us at the ripe old age of about 12-16 weeks, she was a scared little wild puppy who only knew being yelled at and chased. She has been with us now for a year and is finally ready for adoption. It’s been a long haul for her to learn some trust and to appreciate that some people can treat her well. She has just started to trust us enough to let us rub her belly, stroke her head and give her massages. She is a gorgeous little blue heeler who will mature at about 40 pounds. She will need someone patient and willing to let her come along at her own pace, but with gentle insistence on increasing human contact.
Shelby is good with other confident dogs, but can be a little snippy with other females, especially submissive ones. She does much better with outgoing females who are confident, playful and rather easy going. They should be willing to brush it off if Shelby decides to snarl, growl or snip over a toy or food. Shelby is an especially happy girl when she is with confident, easy going likable males. With the right little boys, she will share her food and toys willingly. She has been raised by the foster’s good old boy doggie that raises all the foster’s young pups, so she adores having a big brother around to dote on.
Shelby is house-trained to a doggie door, has good but evasive recall, travels well in a car, crates, walks well on a leash, takes treats easily, but hasn’t yet started any obedience training. She is still evasive when you try to catch her so must go to a home where she is secure and safely enclosed in any outside area she is in until such time she becomes more outgoing. Shelby does not test fences, jump or dig, and a 5 ft fence would be adequate. She has taken a liking to a couple of little human boys she’s met who were particularly gentle with her. Otherwise, she may not be reliable around little children that try to grab her or move too quickly. She seems OK with cats but hasn’t spent much time around them. Shelby is not needy but does appreciate gentle attention when she gets to know you. She must be adopted to a home with another dog, preferable male, good natured and calm. Preference will be given to a quiet home that wants to work with her and has the time to spend to bring her personality to a full blossom. Shelby is quite at ease in the house and we would like to see her get a lot of handling and house time to help her grow into a normal adult.
If you’re lucky enough to be in New Mexico and would like to meet Shelby and all of her friends, contact Enchantmutts. Call Karon at 505-281-0330 (evenings), send an email to [email protected] or print out and submit an application.
If you’re somewhere else, check out PetFinder’s Shelter Center to locate adoptable dogs near you.
Until next time,
Good day and good dog!